Etymology

weakly

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Today it means: Frail, sickly or of a delicate constitution; weak. Full definition →

Old English wāclīċe ← Proto-Germanic *waikalīkaz
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weakly · adjective1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*waikalīkaz“weakly; weak”
  2. Old English · inherited fromwāclīċe“weakly”
  3. English todayweakly

From Old English wāclīċe (“weakly”), equivalent to weak + -ly (adjectival suffix); compare Old English wāclīċ (“weak; ignoble; mean”), and Old Norse veikligr (“weakly; sick”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *waikalīkaz (“weakly; weak”).

weakly · adverb2

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*waikalīkō
  2. Middle English · inherited fromweykly
  3. English todayweakly

From Middle English weykly, equivalent to weak + -ly (adverbial suffix). Compare Old High German weihlīcho (“weakly”), Middle English wocliche, wokli, wacliche (both from Proto-Germanic *waikalīkō).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.